For Binghamton High graduates Bridget Orchard and Paige Rauch, the 2019 softball season at Villanova has presented countless challenges.

Consider at this time a year ago, Orchard and Rauch wore Crimson uniforms at Fordham in the Atlantic 10 Conference, the former in her 17th season as head coach of a program she built into a powerhouse, the latter a multi-talented freshman who earned numerous postseason honors.

Why mess with a good thing, right?

Sorry, it’s not the way they’re wired.

Orchard took the job at her alma mater June 1, 2018, Rauch followed her to Villanova and now the two who once patrolled the corridors at BHS continue to do big things on Division I diamonds.

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Binghamton High graduate Paige Rauch has a 2.56 ERA this season for Villanova.(Photo: Contributed photo)

It’s not been easy.

Orchard and her family had to pull up roots in New York City in favor of Philadelphia, while in Rauch’s last three seasons she’s gone from the Southern Tier Athletic Conference to the A-10 to the Big East.

They’re doing swimmingly in their new home, with Orchard steering a Wildcats squad riding a five-game winning streak that improved its record to 25-20, heading into a key three-game series this weekend at Big East frontrunner St. John’s.

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Binghamton High graduate Bridget Orchard guided Fordham to eight NCAA tournaments in 17 years before taking over as Villanova's head coach this season. Orchard earned first-team all-Big East honors as a player for Villanova in the 1990s.(Photo: Contributed photo)

And Rauch?

Otherworldly best describes it.

She’s the reigning Big East Player of the Week, one that saw her hit for the cycle and throw a shutout in consecutive wins over Georgetown. Also, last week she broke Villanova’s single-season home run record of 11 – Rauch has 13 on the season, which ranks 36th nationally in D-I.

“Awesome, better than expected,” Orchard said of Rauch’s start to the season. “I’m surprised it happened so quickly. It’s really impressive how’s she’s been stepping up.”

Binghamton High graduate Paige Rauch prepares to hit for Villanova University's softball team. Rauch is hitting .415 with a single-season school-record 13 home runs for the Wildcats.(Photo: Photo provided by Villanova athletics)

For Rauch, it started in Game 1. In a 4-2 victory over Iowa at Orlando, Rauch homered and earned the victory in the circle, a signal to new teammates that she has the goods.

“It was important to set the tone,” said Rauch, Press & Sun-Bulletin Athlete of the Year in 2017. “I didn’t know the girls that well, we’re playing a team from a Power 5 conference, so that meant a lot to me. It definitely took the pressure off my game. I play better when I’m loose, when I’m not stressed about proving myself.”

She leads Villanova in almost every category at the plate and in the circle.

Paige Rauch hit .301 with 16 home runs as a freshman for Fordham last season.(Photo: Provided by Thomas Wasiczko)

A righty in the circle, Rauch is 11-9 with a 2.56 ERA. She’s thrown 126 innings and has 119 strikeouts, to go with 10 complete games, three shutouts and two saves – all team highs. Oh, and she also leads the ‘Cats with 14 hit batsmen – friendly reminder to St. John’s hitters this weekend thinking of getting comfortable against her high-60s heat.

She’s already exceeded the number of innings she pitched last season for Fordham.

“That’s been an adjustment, but I made sure to build my stamina before the season,” said Rauch, who hit .301 with 16 home runs last season when she was the A-10’s Rookie of the Year.

Her work ethic has trickled down to teammates, Orchard said. Being a pitcher and a hitter at the college level is a difficult thing. The majority of players do one or the other. Doing both means players have to make practice time for both.

“She’s doing stuff before practice, doing stuff after practice, she gets a lot of stuff done behind the scenes,” said Orchard, seven-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year who steered the Rams to eight NCAA tournaments.

Orchard inherited a team that went 27-24-2 last season under 34-year coach Maria DiBernardi, who coached Orchard – then Baxter -- from 1994-97. Trying to change the culture, Orchard said players are taking notice of the work Rauch puts in and it’s spilling over.

Forty-five games into the season, Orchard is still tinkering with the lineup, moving infielders to the outfield and vice-versa.

“It’s a process and I expected that,” said Orchard, who has 778 victories over 22 seasons – the first four at Cabrini College. “I’m getting to know them, figuring out who can do what, who can handle pressure and those types of things.”

Rauch seems impressed with what coach has done.

“She’s handled all those obstacles really well,” she said. “You couldn’t ask for more. She had to move her family and start a new job.”